How We Move On
by sherwhotreksings
Summary: An accident while on a mission for Torchwood causes complications for Rose and the Doctor.
1. Chapter 1

Rose blinks her eyes open in surprise at the sudden pressure on top of her. What she wakes to find is the Doctor's grinning face above her. His chest rests lightly on top of hers and his hands are placed on either side of her body. He presses a kiss to her lips and shifts over to his side. He slides his hand over her and rests it on her ribcage. He splays his long fingers and Rose giggles quietly and squirms underneath his touch. He loves how he can make her do that.

"Good morning Rose Tyler," he whispers seductively in her ear.

She shivers. "G'morning."

He kisses her passionately and she opens her mouth, allowing his tongue to shoot in.

"Do you want to try again?" He runs his hand up her thigh and she smacks it away.

"We'll be late for work if we do, so don't you dare!"

The Doctor pouts and slides his hand from her thigh to her back and pulls her closer. "Pleeeeaaase Roooooooose."

"No!" She rolls away from him and crawls out of bed.

He follows her but decides last minute to head into the bathroom for a shower while Rose makes breakfast. He steps out of the shower and dries his hair off with a towel, causing it to stick up in every direction. He then wraps the towel around his waist and goes into the kitchen for his own breakfast. Rose walks up behind him. She wraps her arms around him, her hands resting on his abs. He jumps at her cold hands and her quiet approach startling him. She rests her head between his shoulder blades and he relaxes.

"Got a call from Torchwood when you were showering."

"Mm?"

The low rumble of his voice feels good and she presses closer to him. "There's been a change of plans. They want us to go on that mission after all."

He side steps away from her and out of her grasp, but her hand brushes the towel as he moves and it slips. The towel drops low, revealing part of his bum and Rose smirks. He scrambles for the edge of the towel before it can fall completely. He's unsure as to why he's suddenly being modest. He faces Rose just in time to catch her smirk and he lets the towel slide lower, teasing her but not showing anything. Rose is indeed wearing her mission clothes, tight black pants and a grey formfitting shirt. Her hair has been pulled back into a pony tail but some fringe has escaped and is hanging in front of her eyes.

Her eyes twinkle but she manages to compose herself. "It could be dangerous."

He plants a chaste kiss on her lips and heads into the bedroom to get dressed. His mission clothes aren't as fancy as Rose's; a pair of black jeans and a soft, neutral colored t-shirt. When he emerges from the bedroom Rose has on a faded black leather jacket and trainers. The Doctor pulls on his trainers and then they walk hand in hand out to the car Torchwood provided to bring them to the sight.

In the car is Rose's team and gear for the mission. She sits down next to Jake and he pulls out the files on the situation while the Doctor sits across from Rose. The car is silent and the Doctor can sense the tension but has no clue as to what's causing it.

"I'm going to get straight to the point. The scouting team was killed," Jake says bluntly.

The Doctor and Rose both freeze. She didn't know the people on that team personally but had heard a lot about them. They were the best scouts and she had assigned them that mission. The Doctor reaches across the space between them and places his hand on Rose's leg, rubbing small circles over it in some form of comfort. She has to know it isn't her fault. Rose clears her head; there will be time for mourning their loss later. Right now she has to focus so she doesn't get _her _team killed.

"The alien spaceship seemed abandoned. The team scanned for life forms and didn't find any, so they thought it safe to search the ship. The aliens ambushed them once inside. They killed everyone instantly. We don't know how they fooled the life form scanner and we don't know what they look like. This mission is going to be extremely dangerous especially since we have virtually no information about them."

The Doctor spins his wedding band around and around on his finger, only half listening to Jake. The other half of him is worried about Rose. As the head of her team she has to lead them which means putting her life in danger. He is supposed to stay back and translate on this mission, but if Rose is in trouble, there is no way he will stand by and watch her get hurt.

"Understand?"

It takes the Doctor a moment to realize that Jake was talking to him and he nods yes even though he actually has no idea what he is supposed to have.

They reach their destination 15 minutes later. The spaceship isn't so much a spaceship as it is a giant black house that is lopsided and smoking from crashing. The team jumps out of the car and retrieves the gear from the trunk. Jake hands a computer to the Doctor and a gun just a tad smaller than a regular pistol to Rose. It is set on stun.

"What's the plan for these guys?" Rose questions Jake, "Are going to capture them or…" Rose glances over to the Doctor and then to the ground. "…or kill… them?"

Jake's eyes shift over to the Doctor also and he lower's his voice before answering. "Well… they have committed a level 5 crime. Even if we did capture them they would just be killed back at Torchwood…"

Rose grimaces. "That's what I thought."

She flicks the dial to kill instead of stun and tucks it into a holster around her waist. The Doctor busies himself setting up the computer translator program and the webcam feed attachment so he can see what's happening inside the ship.

"Ok, I think I've got this just about set up." The Doctor rubs the nape of his neck as he stares at the computer screen. "Yeah, there we go. You have the cameras right?" he addresses Jake.

"Yup." He takes a small camera out of a box and straps it to his head.

Rose laughs hard. "You look ridiculous!"

Jake glares at her. "Shut up! It's for your own safety."

At this she goes quiet and none of them know what to say. Rose is the one to break the awkward first.

"We should get in there then."

"Right." Jake straightens his holster and assembles the rest of the team.

The Doctor takes a few hesitant steps closer to Rose. Placing his hand on her cheek, he brushes his thumb across her cheek bone. "Be careful," he whispers, fear creeping into his voice.

She nods curtly once and he places a quick kiss on her lips before somberly turns and moves towards the rest of her waiting team.

"So here's the plan. Jake, you take half the team in through the side entrance there and I'll take half and go through the front. Hopefully I'll be able to draw their attention to me. When I give you the signal you fire. Got that?"

Everyone mumbles yes and Rose signals for them to follow her. She makes it to the door and throws it open, gun held out and read to fire in front of her. The Doctor grimaces again at how comfortable Rose has gotten with holding a gun. She takes a few cautious steps into the ship and her half of the team swarms in behind her. The only things in the surrounding area are 10 or so chairs, some control panels, and giant view screen of the outside.

Guns out and ready, Rose calls, "This is Torchwood team 1 and I order you to show yourselves."

Nothing happens so they inch further into the room. Jake waits patiently listening for Rose's signal and the Doctor holds his breath while staring at the screen, tense with worry. Out of the corner of her eye Rose sees something flicker.

"Perception filter!" she shouts right as all the chairs and the control panels flicker and turn into aliens.

Jake doesn't even wait for her signal; he just launches himself and the rest of the team into the chaos. The aliens are firing some sort of laser beam out of their hands and everyone, but Rose, is firing their guns. Someone manages to kill one alien but it just sends all the others into a frenzy. The aliens corner the team, but for some reason haven't killed anyone yet. One of the smaller aliens steps forward and says something Rose doesn't understand.

She brings her hand slowly up to her ear, consequently lowering her gun. "Doctor?" she speaks into her headset. "Did you get that?"

"It asked who the leader of your…" he trails off, not wanting to tell Rose that the alien called them a murder party. "…of your team is."

Rose steps forward and sets her gun on the ground. "That would be me."

The Doctor sees something, an emotion, dance across the little alien's face. He stares at the computer, trying to place why it seems so familiar. Then he places it; revenge. He practically topples over the portable desk and the computer sitting on top in his haste to get to Rose. He runs blindly towards the ship, tripping over various wires and equipment until he makes it to the door. He gets there just in time to see a streak of light shoot out and hit Rose in the stomach. Her legs buckle under her and the Doctor lurches forward to catch her as he dodges a beam from Jake's gun.


	2. Chapter 2

The little alien falls to the floor and then all hell breaks loose. Beams and lasers are flying everywhere and people are falling; dying. The Doctor isn't focused on anything other than Rose right now though and he picks her up. Her head rolls back and her arm swings lifelessly. He rushes to get out, trekking back up the small hill to the cars. Laying her down in the soft grass, he checks for a pulse. He finds one, even if it erratic. He takes out his mobile and calls Pete.

"Pete? We need and ambulance here now, Torchwood ambulance." He glances over to the spaceship. "Make that three, and a backup team." He ends the call without telling Pete that one of the ambulances is for Rose, he deserves to hear it in person.

While the Doctor waits for Pete to arrive her cradles Rose in his lap. He can feel her chest moving slightly with her shallow breathing and can feel her breath flit lightly across his neck. His eyes fill with tears but he holds them back for her. It will do no good to cry over her right now. He has to hold it together for her. He brushes some stray hairs away from her closed eyes and she shudders. She takes a breath which could be considered 'more normal' and opens her eyes, but just barely.

She struggles to get the world into focus but can't and gives up. She can feel the presence of someone else but is unsure as to whom. "Doctor?" she questions faintly.

He whips his head down and looks at her, shock clearly showing on his face. Taking her hand in his, he answers, "Yes love, yes it's me. I'm here." He kisses her forehead, afraid that if he kisses her lips he'll block her breathing.

She grips his hand weakly and whispers almost too quietly to hear, "Help… me…" before drifting off again.

At her statement the Doctor chokes back a sob. It's so hard for him to sit there, not being able to do anything while his Rose is hurting and possibly dying. Then the ambulance is there, the paramedics rushing around them. The second team heads into the ship. Everything is going by in slow motion and all he can hear is the blood pounding in his ears. The Doctor faintly realizes the paramedics are trying to take Rose off his lap. Dazed, he holds Rose closer. He's not letting anyone take her from him.

Pete steps out of his car and sees that the paramedics are having a hard time getting someone away from the Doctor. He sees that the 'someone' is Rose and he gets over to them as fast as he can. He places a hand on the Doctor's shoulder and the Doctor turns his head to look at Pete. His eyes are glassy and faraway. Pete bends down and places his arms underneath Rose. The Doctor registers that this is Pete and he won't hurt Rose, so he lets him take her. Pete gives her to the medical personnel. As soon as Rose is off his lap he mentally tunes back in. People all around him are shouting.

"Get her hooked up now!"

"How's her heart rate? Will she be ok?"

"Get that IV going!"

The Doctor spins slowly on the spot and finds Jake sitting in a nearby ambulance, conscious, but with an oxygen mask held up to his face. There are a few team 1 members in a group but he counts four people missing. The backup team is huddled around Pete, presumably telling him what happened.

"Doctor you need to either move out of the way or get in the ambulance with her."

He stumbles over to the ambulance occupied by Rose and climbs unsteadily in. He sits down to the side of her and vaguely realizes someone has placed a blanked around him. He takes Rose's hand in his own, mostly to keep his own hands from shaking.

~o~

At the hospital the Doctor paces nervously around Rose's room, waiting for the doctor to tell him what's going on with her. He hears the door swing open and he whirls around, hope in his eyes.

"Looks like the laser only did some short turn damage. Only a few broken ribs and some swelling in the brain. The good news is that she won't be in a coma for long, two days max. When she wakes up we'll have to run a few tests but other than that I think she'll be ok."

The Doctor looks over at Rose. Lying on her back, she has oxygen tubes coming out of her nose, an IV slowly dripping, and a heart rate monitor hooked up to her chest. Her heart rate is back to normal, but her breathing is still pretty shallow. He sits down on the bed next to her and half listens to Jackie ask the doctor some questions about Rose's health. The Doctor runs a hand down Rose's arm without the IV, stopping when he reaches her hand and takes it in his. He sits in her room for hours, occasionally shifting from the bed to a chair across from her. Jackie stayed for a while but left a few hours ago. Pete came in after her but couldn't stay for very long, only a half an hour.

"Sir, it's almost 11. You should go home and get some rest. You'll do no good for her sitting there like that," a nurse tells him.

He doesn't reply, he just sits there silently until the nurse leaves them. Once he's sure they are alone he murmurs quietly to Rose.

"Please come back to me." He shuffles from the chair to the bed and leans over her, brushing his hand across her forehead. "I love you and I don't know what I'd do without you." He slides down next to her and carefully maneuvers her onto his lap, and then he pulls a blanket at the base of the bed over them both.

He doesn't sleep all night and in the morning he has dark circles under his eyes. When Rose's nurse comes back to check on her, she gets mad at the Doctor for moving her but doesn't say anything to him other than to ask him to move. He stands up and paces around the room until he can sit down at Rose's side again. The silence in the room is unnerving so the Doctor decides to tell her about Gallifrey.

"It's extraordinary Rose! You'd love it there. I wish I could take you. We could've had a life there, a beautiful life. Maybe start a family. We can do that here though. I'll be happy wherever I have you. Wouldn't you like that?" he pauses, as if somehow she'll answer him, but she doesn't so he continues, "I think before we have a baby we should move to a house. Our small flat wouldn't be big enough." His thumb strokes small circles, Gallifreyan, over the back of her hand.

"I love you," he spells out over and over.

He looks at her heart rate monitor, her heart has picked up pace. Then he hears a feeble voice call to him.

"Doctor?" her voice is barely audible.

"Rose. I'm here. It's me Rose." He brushes soft kisses over her hand and trails them up her arm.

"Hello." She smiles warms at him.

He can see the fatigue in her eyes and he wishes he could take it all away, absorb it into himself.

"You scared me. For a while I thought you…" he doesn't finish the sentence and instead chooses to study the floor tiles.

She squeezes his hand gently. "I didn't though, I'm not. So let's not think about that, yeah?"

He meets her eyes and sees that they are filled with tears. One slips down her face and the Doctor wipes it off. She closes her eyes at his touch and when he pulls his hand away she is asleep.

After several more hours of Rose drifting in and out of sleep, she is finally awake enough to sit up. She grimaces in pain as the Doctor eases her back onto the pillow.

"That would be the broken ribs," the Torchwood doctor tells Rose, "You're going to have to go easy for a while, no strenuous activity like lifting heavy things, no field missions for at least a month, and no sex until your ribs heal up, you wouldn't want to reinjure them."

The Doctor pulls a face in protest and the Torchwood doctor glares at him.

"I'll be back after your meal for a proper examination." The doctor briskly turns and leaves.

The Doctor scoots Rose's food closer to him so he can help her with it. It's only applesauce, a roll, and some oatmeal. Rose wrinkles her nose at the sight of it.

"The nurse said you might not be able to keep anything down so I figured I should order something easier," the Doctor explains.

"I'm in the mood for chips." She grins at him, sticking her tongue out of the corner of her mouth.

"When aren't you?" He kisses her forehead and then scoops some applesauce onto a spoon for her, holding it up to her mouth.

Once the applesauce and the roll are gone they wait to see if she can keep it down. When she does, he slowly feeds her the oatmeal. That stays down too and the Torchwood doctor comes to check on her.

"I'm going to have to ask you to leave now, Doctor. I have to do a complete physical and you should go home and get some rest, or at least go out and get some food."

The Doctor sighs, and slightly slumped over, exits the room. He doesn't go far though, only to the little shop across from the hospital where they sell chips. He purchases one for himself and then one for Rose. After sitting down and eating his, he goes back to her room almost an hour later. He knocks hesitantly on the door, cringing when only knocked twice and adding a third one for good luck. He receives no answer so the Doctor opens the door a crack. He sticks his head into the room and sees Rose sitting up on the edge of the hospital bed, hands folded in her lap, a vacant look in her eyes.


	3. Chapter 3

"Ok Miss Tyler, I have the results of your tests back."

Rose swings her legs back and forth, a little nervous for the results of her examination, but overall pretty calm.

"It looks like everything is mostly normal. Swelling in your brain has gone down immensely. Your heart seems fine. No other internal damage, except for one thing."

Rose braces herself for the worst, but nothing could have prepared her for what she is about to hear.

"When we did the original scan for medical abnormalities while you were unconscious, I'll admit my staff wasn't very thorough. They seemed to have overlooked a certain… condition… and well… I'm sorry Rose, but you won't be able to have kids."

He mouth drops open and her feet still. Did she hear the doctor correctly? "I… I won't be able to get pregnant? She stutters. She feels like the world is crashing down around her. She and the Doctor… the Doctor… oh crap what is she going to tell him?

"There was already a slight chance you would be sterile before you were hit by the laser, a 1/25 chance I believe. I don't have a clue as to why you are now, it could have been caused by something here, the laser, or you were to begin with."

Elbows on knees, Rose rests her head in her hands.

"I'll let you tell the Doctor and you can leave when you are ready. I'll leave the checkout papers here." The doctor sets the papers on the table next to the empty food tray.

She straightens up and folds her hands on her lap, and that's how the Doctor finds her 10 minutes later, lost in her own thoughts.

The Doctor steps into the room, concern on his face. "What did the Doctor say? Are the tests back?"

Rose blinks a few times in an attempt to clear her head. "Uh… yeah the tests came back." She takes a deep breath and plasters a fake smile on. "I'm fine and I can leave whenever I'm ready."

"Oh Rose, that's great!" He rushes over to her and hugs her tightly, but remembering her broken ribs, pulls back.

"I am… so ready to get out of here." She looks around her hospital room and nods her head.

~o~

Back at the flat, the Doctor guides Rose to their bedroom.

"Its nine o'clock and you should go to bed."

"I just slept for almost two days!" She stifles a yawn. "I don't need to sleep now!"

He chuckles and kisses her nose. "Yes you do. I'll lay with you if you want."

She is very still for a moment and then nods her consent. The Doctor smiles and helps Rose undress and put on a pair of pajamas, then pulls off his t-shirt and jeans. They slide under the covers together and he tucks one arm under her, wrapping the other around her waist. She presses herself against him and closes her eyes. He can feel her heart beating over the place where his second heart used to be. He stays awake and watches her sleep, but soon the double beating of their hearts causes him to fall asleep also.

Rose wakes up around three in the morning with the Doctor asleep next to her. The sickening reality of her situation hits her like a wall and she stumbles out of bed and to the bathroom. She braces herself against the sink and looks down, trying to keep the contents of her stomach actually in her stomach. She can't seem to divert her attention and with each thought about how she's going to tell the Doctor she can't have a baby brings a new wave of nausea. She bends over the toilet and throws up. The bile stings her throat and leaves a foul taste in her mouth. Once her stomach is completely empty she is left hunched over, gaging fiercely and panting. She takes a few steps backwards and slides down the wall to a sitting position. Her mind is in overdrive and she's exhausted from throwing up.

The Doctor wakes up to a strange, unknown noise. He doesn't take much notice of it until he realizes the spot next to him is cold. His eyes pop open and search for Rose. When he doesn't find her the noise finally registers as someone retching. He throws back the covers and runs into the bathroom to find Rose sitting on the floor.

"Rose?!" He takes a step into the bathroom; unsure whether he can come in or not.

She turns red eyes slowly towards him. Her bottom lip begins to quiver as she tries not to cry. Her eyes plead with him not to come any closer, to not see her like this. His face fills with worry and hurt.

"Rose… what is it? What's wrong?" He kneels down next to her and searches her eyes. "…Rose?" he asks quietly.

The sound of her name being said from him so full of emotion, worry, hurt, sadness; it breaks her and she starts to cry. He scoops her up and shifts her onto his lap so she can cry into his shoulder. They are sitting close enough to the sink that he can reach up without having to move too much and grab a tissue. He wipes the tears away with his thumb and hands her the tissue to blow her nose.

"What is it Rose?" he tries again.

"I… I was meaning to… to tell you, but I… I didn't know h-how," she says between sobs, "I wasn't going to… to keep this fr-from you. Plea-please know th-that. I'm… I'm s-sorry, s-so sorry," she gasps out.

Her body is shaking from crying so hard now and even he can't stop the flow of tears.

"Rose? Tell me what, Rose?" his voice is suddenly very different from the way it was before, more urgent and harder, not as soft as before.

Rose stills and goes very silent. "I can't get…" she croaks out in a whisper. She pauses and tries again. "I can't get pregnant."

She can feel his arms go slack around her and she brings her head up to look into his face. It isn't readable, but his jaw is clenched.

"I'm sorry! I'm so sorry. Please don't be mad. Don't… don't be mad." Rose's voice and face is full of regret and fear.

He looks at her but he's not looking _at_ her, just through her. Everything is blurry to him and he can't believe what she just told him. They had been trying …

"It was the laser wasn't it? I shouldn't have let you go. I'm so stupid, I should have known better!" He brings one hand up to the nape of his neck and vigorously rubs it, sweeping his hand into his hair on the top of his head and then down his face. He looks away from her and at the wall, forcing himself to focus on something.

"The doctor said it might not have been the laser… I could have been sterile before… before I was hit. So please don't blame yourself, it wasn't your fault," she rushes to reassure him.

He tilts his head down and looks at her pleading eyes. He furrows his eyebrows and stares at her. "Would I be mad?"

"Because you wanted to have a baby and I can't… I can't give that to you."

The Doctor drops his arms completely and Rose takes it as her cue to get off his lap. She bites back tears as she slips off his lap and backs herself into the corner of the wall and the shower. She pulls her knees into her body and wraps her arms around her legs with her back propped up on the shower glass.

"What are you going to do now?" she asks hesitantly, afraid of the answer, afraid he will leave her.

"What do you mean?" His voice is devoid of any emotion.

"Are you…" her voice cracks but she continues, "…going to leave me?"

At that question he snaps back to reality and sees how truly scared Rose is, how much she need reassurance that everything will be okay.

"Oh Rose. Oh Love." He crawls towards her and tentatively takes her hand. "I'm not going to leave you because you can't get pregnant. I love you." He puts her hand under her chin and tips her face up. "Do you understand? I love _you_."

His face looks as if someone has ripped out his heart and shredded it at the sight of seeing her so scared and lost, completely believe that she will lose him once again just because she's infertile. She's sobbing again.

"I'm not going to leave you. Not ever." He picks her up and carries her into the bedroom, setting her on the bed. He strokes her hair and murmurs, "Shhhh… It's gonna be ok. You'll be fine. We'll be fine. Shhh… Shhh…"

This goes on for quite a while until he's calmed her down and she's taking shaky breaths.

"I'm… I'm fine not having a baby. I don't need to have one," he tells her quietly.

Rose takes a deep breath. "We could adopt…" The Doctor doesn't respond so she quickly adds to the statement. "If that's something you'd want. It wouldn't be our own… but it would be something? Right?"

He realizes that she just gave him a second option and his face lights up. "We can do that? We can adopt?"

She chokes out a laugh at his eagerness. "Yes, we can. I take it you want that then."

He nods vigorously. "Oh yes."


	4. Epilogue

Rose is resting atop the Doctor's chest on the sofa when she gets a call. She props herself up by her elbows and mouths "Torchwood" when he gives her a questioning glance. Her eyebrows furrow, then her eyes widen as she hears whatever then are telling her. He silently presses her for information. She almost drops the mobile on the floor and sits up suddenly.

He presses her for information. "Rose? Rose what's going on?"

She swats at him and leans forward. "Yeah, Ok we'll be right in." She hangs up the mobile and her voice shakes slightly as she fills in the Doctor. "Torchwood… they…" She furrows her eyebrows as she tries to collect her thoughts and form a coherent sentence. "They found a child, supposedly alien, in a spaceship crash. They've rescued it but they don't have a clue about what to do with it. They want us to come in."

He ruffles his hair. "A child? That's odd." He can't help a little excitement and hope escape in his voice even though Rose is most clearly distressed.

They drive over to the Torchwood tower and meet Pete in the front lobby.

"This kid was just stuck in the wreck. He looks human enough, only one heart and all that. He can't remember what happened or where he's from, probably had his memory wiped in the crash," Pete informs them as he leads them to a bolted door. He enters the passcode and they all descend ten flights of stairs. "We haven't… couldn't scan him. He wouldn't let us. We can't scan someone without consent. So we don't know whether he is actually alien or not. We were going to put him in an orphanage, but none of the homes around here will take him because he could be an alien. Even if he isn't they don't want him because he was in that wreck." He pauses outside another heavy looking metal door that must be a few feet thick.

This door opens without Pete doing anything. It swings inwards and Pete motions for the Doctor and Rose to step inside. The room is divided in two by a large piece of glass. The side that they are on is white and bare. The side that the boy is on looks like a typical room.

"One way glass, the other side shows them whatever scene they want. We found it on the ship that crashed before this one," Pete says.

Rose walks over to the glass and presses her hand against it. Her heart aches for the little boy inside. He has brown floppy hair and brown eyes. He looks to be only five or six. He is curled up on the bed with his back against the wall. Rose turns to face the Doctor and he rubs his hair at the nape of his neck.

"Can I go in?" he questions Pete.

Pete shrugs. "If you think it's safe enough. Put your hand on the glass in the corner and a door should appear." He points to the right side of the wall.

The Doctor walks over and does what Pete says. He places a hand on the doorknob and Rose makes a move to follow him.

"No Rose. If this boy _is_ an alien, he could be dangerous. I don't want you getting hurt."

She folds her arms and glares at the Doctor. "Fine, but don't you get hurt either."

When the boy hears the door open he lifts his head. Rose watches the Doctor through the window. He walks over to the bed and goes down on one knee to talk to the boy. Rose can see his lips moving but can't hear their conversation.

"Hi, I'm the Doctor. What's your name?" He smiles at the boy and the boy half smiles back.

"My name's Brody. Are you going to do a checkup?"

"Just a little one. Don't worry, it won't hurt." He takes the sonic screwdriver out of his pocket and scans Brody.

Brody laughs at the sound it makes as the Doctor checks the readings on him. The Doctor squints his eyes and scans Brody again. This time he takes out his glasses to read the report.

"Do you know where you're from?"

Brody scrunches his eyes in concentration. "…No."

They hear someone, most likely Rose, knocking on the door.

"I have to go now Brody."

Brody looks dejected. "Do you have to go?"

The Doctor raises his eyebrows. "Welllllllllllll… Yeah, I do. But I'll visit you again, I promise."

Brody's face breaks into a smile. "Yeah! I like that!" He sits forward and throws his arms around the Doctor.

The Doctor hugs him back and then slides out of his grasp. Rose opens the door for him.

"So… what did you find out?" Rose asks anxiously.

"Well it looks like he, his name is Brody by the way, it looks like he's human. He has a low level telepathic field, but it doesn't seem like it will develop into much. Definitely not an alien though." He takes a breath and smiles at her.

They turn to Pete.

"How long has he been here?" the Doctor asks him.

"About a week."

"And no contact from any alien parents?"

"We tried sending a message out into space, but didn't get a reply. There hasn't been any missing child posters out anywhere either."

"He's not alien then. I don't know how he got on the spaceship, but I think he's human. I don't think anyone is missing him either."

"He's really adorable," Rose comments almost to herself.

Pete and the Doctor exchange looks.

"I have an idea." Rose leans into the Doctor and whispers something in his ear.

His eyes widen and he smiles big. This time it's Rose's turn talk to Brody. She leaves the door open though as she walks over to his bed. She sits down next to Brody.

"Hello. I'm Rose, the Doctor's…wife…" She looks down at her hand and smiles, then returns to the conversation with Brody. "Do you have a mommy or a daddy?"

Brody's face falls. "No."

"Would you like one?'

He nods his head vigorously.

"Would you like me and the Doctor for a mommy and daddy?" She holds out her hand to him.

He looks at it for a second before putting his hand in hers. "Yeah. Yeah yeah yeah!"

She pulls him into a bear hug and the Doctor joins them in the room. He places a hand on her shoulder and smiles down at them with a goofy grin.

"Welcome to our family Brody."


End file.
